Blog Tour: The Wood Bee Queen

I’m very excited that today is my stop on the blog tour for The Wood Bee Queen by Edward Cox. If you’ve been here for a while you might remember that I loved Ed’s debut series, The Relic Guild, so I was very much looking forward to reading his latest book. Many thanks to Gollancz for my gifted copy!

Somewhere in England, in a small town called Strange Ground by the Skea, Ebbie Wren is the last librarian and he’s about to lose his job. Estranged from his parents, unable to make connections with anyone except the old homeless lady who lives near the library, Ebbie isn’t quite sure what he’s supposed to do next. His only escape from reality is his deep interest in local folklore, but reality is far stranger than Ebbie can dream.

On the other side of the sky and the sea, the Queen of House Wood Bee has been murdered. Her sister has made the first move in a long game, one which will lead her to greatness, yet risk destruction for the entire Realm. She needs the two magical stones Foresight and Hindsight for her power to be complete, but no one knows where they are. Although the sword recently stolen by Bek Rana, small time thief and not very good at it, might hold a clue to their location . . . and to stopping the chaos. But all Bek wants is to sell the sword and buy herself a better life. She’s not interested in being a hero, and neither is Ebbie.

But someone is forcing their hand and playing for the heart of the Realm. Ebbie and Bek are destined to unite. They must find a way to stop the destruction of House Wood Bee, save the Realm, and just maybe save themselves in the process. All victories come at a price. The Oldungods are rising. And they are watching… 

The first thing I want to say is congratulations to Ed on that glorious pun of a title. I’m ashamed to say it took me a very long time to realise the double meaning, but once I did, it made me smile every time.

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to hear I really enjoyed The Wood Bee Queen. It’s the story of Ebbie Wren, a librarian in a tiny town near the sea, who, on the day he loses his job, finds out that the Realm is a real place and not just a story. Not only that, it turns out the future of both the Realm and Earth might actually rest on the shoulders of Ebbie and his very reluctant companion, Bek Rana. I loved both Ebbie and Bek as lead characters. They’re both very closed off in their own way – Ebbie has just lost his only friend, and Bek had a tragic childhood which means she doesn’t trust very easily – but we see them open up to each other over the course of the book, and there’s some good character development for them both. Is it a little bit tropey? Well, yes, but tropes are tropes for a reason, and the story carried me along anyway.

Speaking of story, the plot is mostly a portal fantasy quest/epic adventure, but it spends more time in (the slightly alternative version of) our world than you might expect, and I really liked that. I also liked the way Ed mixed in the old Greek gods, and used the idea of the gods using mortals as pawns in a game. There’s also a great cast of villains and side characters that I quickly cared about – Karin, Charlie and, of course, Mai were particular standouts. The worldbuilding was great – I could easily picture both versions of Strange Ground- and was made richer by the inclusion of some of the stories Ebbie had heard from Mai. I know some people hated the letter that Mai sent Ebbie, but I loved both the idea and content of it. I also enjoyed reading from Yandira (the villain)’s point of view, and she is a delicious villain indeed!

The Wood Bee Queen isn’t a complicated book, and I did feel the pace suffered in the middle a bit, mostly the parts featuring the army on the move. However, that doesn’t mean it’s bad, and apart from that small gripe about the pacing, I thought it was great. There were times I didn’t want to put it down, and if that’s not a sign of a good book, I don’t know what is! I would definitely recommend it to other fantasy fans – it’s fun and filled with a cast of characters that will stay with you.

4/5

The Wood Bee Queen is out now from Gollancz

Blog Tour: The Blacktongue Thief

Today is my spot on the blog tour for The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman! As such, I received a copy of the book for free from Gollancz, in exchange for an honest review.

Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path.

But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants.

Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva’s. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford. 

I’ll be honest. I thought for a long time before I requested a spot on the tour, because I really wasn’t sure if The Blacktongue Thief was going to be my sort of book. It appeared to be traditional epic fantasy, and therefore, I assumed, full of the misogyny often found in those books. Fortunately that was not the case. Kinch, our main character, isn’t the most enlightened person, but he is a 23 year old, brought up in a thieves’ school and living in a world that has been ravaged by war, so I can forgive him some rough edges. It helps that Kinch is a great first person POV – he’s telling the story from some point in the future, and is happy to pass comment on the actions of himself and his companions, often in a very funny way. Because Kinch is telling his own story, we get to see his thought processes too, and I particularly liked that we got a lot of his backstory in a very organic way. There were two occasions when I thought this worked very well: his reaction to meeting Malk, and the guilt and shame it provoked; and when he meets a man who could possibly-maybe be his biological father. I also loved KInch’s relationship with his god, Fothannon, and the mischievous ways Fothannon would grant prayers.

KInch isn’t our only well-written character though. The rest of this band of adventurers have enough depth that I cared about what happened to them – even Galva, who barely speaks – and even the minor characters are memorable. The plot moves at pace, and it’s a credit to Buehlman’s writing that he builds the character development into the fast moving story. Also, the world building is phenomenal and again, is fed into the story in a really organic way. One of my favourite world building ideas was the Taker’s Guild and the way they’d spread around the world, as well as their policy of charging their members for the education they’d had no choice in receiving. Because Kinch is in debt to the guild, he has a tattoo on his cheek that allows anyone to slap him and claim a drink on the guild, and I loved this idea. It’s such a tiny thing on the face of it, but really illustrates what sort of world this is and where the power lies.

I will say that it took me a little while to get into the book. I’m not sure why that was, as the first scene is great, but it just didn’t immediately grip me, and I was worried that I was going to struggle to read it. However, it soon picked up for me, and I found myself cursing every time I had to put the book down! If you’re struggling too, just stick with it, because it’s worth it!

Overall then, I greatly enjoyed The Blacktongue Thief. It’s funny and fast moving, with a great set of characters and a well thought out, vivid setting. It’s definitely worth your time!

4/5

The Blacktongue Thief is out now